Teeeitoey



mi Model.)

P. P. VOIG-T.

TRACK LAYING MACHINE.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented 001;. 9, 1883.

(No Model.)

2 t e 8 h S w e e h S 2 T G I V v w.

TRACK LAYING MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 9, 1883.

NrrnD STATE PATENT OFFICE- FERDINANDF. VOI GT, OF YVALLA VVALLA, ,VVASHINGTON TERRITORY.

TRACK-LAYlNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,56, dated October 9, 1883.

Application filed April 17,1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FERDINAND F. VOIGT, of W'alla \Valla, county of Walla alla, Ter ritory of Vashington, have invented an Improved Track-Laying Machine; and I hereby precede a construction-train carrying-the material.

My invention consists in a novel means for carrying the material to the front, in novel means for handling the cross-ties and rails, in a novel means for switching the material-trucks to avoid interference, and in certain other details of construction, all of which will hereinafter fully appear.

The object of my invention is to lay a railroad-track with facility and dispatch, thereby econoinizingin time and labor, as will appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a perspective view of my machine. Fig. 2 is a plan. showing the coupling track-section O and a material-truck, b.

Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is a vertical longitudinal section of the front car B and the mechanism thereon. Fig. at is a side elevation of the mechanism for operating the carrier E.

A is the track previously laid.

B is an ordinary flatear, of which there may be as many as necessary to carry materials, such as rails, cross-ties, 85c.

B is another flat ear, coupled, in the usual manner, to car B. This car-B is the-one upon which the necessary mechanism for handling the materials is constructed, and is the last car of the train;0r, more correctly speaking, as

, the locomotive is coupled at the other end and the train is moved in front of it, this car is the front one.

Upon the fiat cars is built a track, a, upon which the wheeled trucks, 1) are adapted to travel in carrying forward material. In order of two short rails, c, joined by cross-bars c".

The rails c are closer together than the rails of the truck-track a, and lie just inside of them. Their ends are curved inwardly, while the ends of the rails of track a are curved outwardly.

The wheels (2 of the trucks are adapted to travel upon this coupling-track by being constructed with a central flange and rolling sun faces on each side, as shownin Fig. 2. The outer rolling surface travels upon the rails of track a, and the inner upon the rails c of the coupling-track O.

The cross-bars c are provided with slots a and coupling pins 0" extend through these slots into the end beams of the cars, whereby the coupling-track O is not rigid,but may readily conform itself to the changes in direction of the two cars, as when on a curve, for example.

The curved ends of the rails facilitate the passage of the wheels from one to the other.

Securely attached to the forward end of car B is arectangular frame or extension, 1). This should be about the length of a rail, and may be braced as rigidly as possible by any suitable means, or, as I have here shown, by guyropes cl. y

The center of car B, between the rails of track a. thereon, is. cut out, and a track, e, is formed in the bottom of the recess. \Vithin this recess is fitted the shank of a T-shaped extensible carrier, E, the rear end of which is provided with wheels e, adapted to travel on track 6, and its cross-head is provided with rollers 6 adapted to travel on the sides of the rectangular extension-frame D, as shown.

The cross-head of the carrier E is provided with a platform, f, on each side,to enable men to stand thereon. has downwardly-extending guides g, to properly direct the cross-tiesas they are dropped by the men to the road-bed. Upon the forward end .of the carrier is a track, a, the rails of which, when the carrier is back toits place, lie within the rails of the track a on the car to enable a truck, I), to run out thereon by reason of the inner surfaces of its wheels (Z, as explained.

The means I employ to extend-and to draw back the traveling carrier are as follows:

Mounted under the forward end of car B is a shaft, F, carrying a sheave, G, before and The front of the cross-head behind which are mounted guide-pulleys y, inorder to make the chain, rope, or belt H take a threequarter bite, or thereabout, around the sheave, Fi 3.. I prefer to use a chain in this connection, in which case the sheave will have ribs upon its face, or be an ordinary sprocket-pulley. This chain'is secured, one end to the cross-head of the carrier E and the other to the rear end of its shank, whereby, by

IO the revolution of shaft F and sheave G, the carrier may be advanced or withdrawn.

The end of shaft F is provided with a pinion, 17, with which meshes a large gear, I, on

a shaft, J," mounted under the car, Fig. 4:.

I 5 This same shaft carries a ratchet, K. Iivoted on the shaft is a lever, Ii, having a link-pawl,

1, adapted to engage with the ratchet K By moving this lever one way, the link-pawl slips over the teeth of the ratchet, and when moved in areverse manner it engages with the ratchet and turns it one tooth. This movement transmits motion, through shaft J, gear I, pinion i,

and shaft F, to sheave G, whereby the carrier E is advanced. This gearing is so constructed that at each forward movement of lever L the carrier will be advanced a distance sufficient to lay another cross-tie on the road-bed. In

order to bring the carrier back quickly fromits limit, I have a pinion, m, meshing with 3c large gear I, and driven by acrank, M.

Built up from the car-B is a strong framework, (indicated, generally,by the letter N, and consisting of suitable v uprights, cross-beams, and longitudinal timbers,) for the purpose.v of sustaining the various operating parts to be now explained.

Extending forward from the frame N is a frame, O, which serves as a derrick-frame for handling the rails. This extends over the 40 'fram e D for about oneh alf its length. Mounted in the forward portion of frame N is a drum, P, upon which the derrick-ropes p are wound.

These ropes extend out over suitable pulleys in the end of the derrick frame and hang down, having on their ends the ordinary railclamps, Q, adapted to seize the rail. 'On one end of the winding-drum P, I show a handwheel, q, and 011 the other a power-gearing,

q, as means for operating said drum, as occasionmay require the exercise more or less power.

Depending from the central portion of frame 7 N is a frame, n, in which is secured a crossbar, 0, Fig. 3. Upon this bar is pivoted a swinging section of track, B, of equal gage with the track a on the car. This swinging section is slightly overweighted on its forward portion, in order to make it incline to the front,

in which position its rails lie just without the rails of the short track a on the carrier E, and

the truck b is enabled to pass from said short track onto the swinging track, because of the double-rolling-surface wheels d.

S is a pivoted catch, the lower end or hook of which is adapted to engage with a crossbar, a", on the end of the swinging section B,

and to hold said section on a level, Fig. 1. A rope, 3, connected with the upper end of the catch S, is the means by which said catch is tripped in order to allow the section It to swing down. Upon a cross beam or tie, r, of the section R, at its forward end, is pivoted a catch, T,'Fig.'3. This catch has two arms at right angles, the forward one being heavier in order to keep the shorter one upright. When the truck I) is pushed up the incline on the swinging section, it runs over the shorter arm, which,

when freed, is forced up again by the weight of thelonger arm and catches behind the frame of the truck, thereby preventing it from running back.

Upon the car 13 are a number of rollers, 50-, on each side of the track a, to receive the rails.

In order to fully understand the vari'ousdevices I have described, it will be necessary to explain the operation of the entire machine.

As I have before stated, the train may consist of as many cars as may be necessary to carry a certain amount of material. terial is suitably disposed of for convenience in reaching, &c., upon. the cars at the rear of the train-that is, those nearer the locomotive. A truck, I), is run back on the track a to where the nearest material is, and is loaded with cross-ties. It is then pushed forward by workmen passing from one car to another over the coupling-tracks C until it is run out on the short track a on the front of the carrier E. A man stands on each platform f of the crosshead, and another, by moving lever L, gradually advances them, whilethey throw off onto the road-bed the ties. ,One truck will carry sufficient ties for one pair of rails. When the carrier has reached its limit, it is drawn back rapidly by means of the crank M and pinion m. Now, it is obvious that in order to make way for the succeeding truck, which is advanced to the car 13', there must be some switching device. This is the purpose of the swingingtrack-section The rope s is pulled to trip catch S, and the section swings down, Fig. 3. The unloaded truck is forced by the workmen upon the section, and is held by the catch T. The truck being light, and the section nicely hung, theworkmen can then force up the forward end of the section, with the track upon it, until the section is engaged by the'catch S, Fig. 1. The loaded truck may then be pushed forward under the section, while the one above is pushed back past the center, when the section loses its equilibrium and swings its rear end down. The truck then runs off onto track a.

In using a large force and a number of trucks it may be necessary to have more than one swinging switch. Imay provide a number of cars with such track-sections It, and by properly distributing them through the train be enabled to pass the unloaded cars back without interfering with the advancing loaded ones. The rails, two on a truck, are brought to the front in the samemanner. They may be run This maout with the carrier, or, as I prefer, may be unloaded onto therollers m with about onehalf their length extending over the front edge of the car. The men on the carrier attach the hooks Q, of the derrick-ropesp to them at about their middles, and they are hoisted forward and lowered onto the ties. A gang of men will of ,course be on the ground in order to join and spike them. When one length of rail is thus laid, the signal is given to the engineer andthe train moves forward to a new position, when the operation is repeated. In this manner the work may progress with rapidity and at comparatively small cost for labor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1, In a trackdaying device, a constructiontrain the cars of which are each provided with a track, a, and the coupling-sections of track G, having a gage narrower than the gage'of tracks a, in combination with the trucks 1), having wheels d,with a central flange and rolling surfaces on each side of the flange, to fit, respectively, the wide and narrow gage of tracks aaud C, substantially as herein de- 7 scribed.

enable them to conform to changes of direction in the cars, in combination with trucks 1), adapted to travel on tracks a and pass from one car to another over coupling-tracks G, substantially as herein described.

3. In a traelelaying machine, the end ear, B, and the extension-frame D, in front, in combination with the carrier E, on a level with the car-floor, and a means for advancing andwithdrawing said carrier on the frame D, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

4. In a traclrlaying machine, the end car,

B, having a track, a, for a truck, and a central recess with a track, (2, and the extension I) in front, in combination with the T-shaped carrier E, having wheels 0 on the rear of its shank, adapted to travel on track 6, and rollers e on its cross-head, for traveling on the sides of the front extension, D, and a track, a, on its front, and means for advancing and withdrawing said carrier, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

5. In a track-laying machine, the end car, B, and extension D, in combination with the carrier E, and the means for advancing it out on the extension, consisting of the chain H, sheave G, shaft F, pinion 1', gear I, shaft J, and ratchet K, and the lever L, having a link; pawl, 'Z, engaging with the ratchet K, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

6. In a track-laying machine, the end car, B, and extension I), in combination with the extensible carrier E, and the means for withdrawing said carrier rapidly, consisting of the chain H, sheave G, shaft I1, pinion i, gear I, crank M, and pinion in, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

7 In a. track-layin g machine, the car B, having a track, it, upon it, and a frame-work, N, in combination with the swinging track-sec ti on It, mounted above in said frame-work, and adapted to incline to either end, to receive a truck from track a, to carry it over the car, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

8. In a track-laying machine, the car B, having a track, a, and a frame-work, N, in combination with a swinging track-section, R, centrally pivoted in said frame, and adapted to incline to either end, and a pivoted catch, S, to hold said swinging section horizontal, and rope s, to trip the catch, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

9. In a track-laying machine, the end car,

extension-frame D, in combination with the extensible carrier E, having track a, and the swinging track-section B, all arranged and opherein described.

track-section R, having a pivoted catch, '1, as shown, in combination with a truck, 1), adapted to be moved upon said track-section and to be held by the catch, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand. FERDINAND F. VOIGT. lVitnesses S. H. Nounsn, J. H. 131.001).

B, having track a and frame-work N, and the crating substantially as and for the purpose 10. In a track-laying machine, the swinging 

